Rarely in sports, and especially hockey, do you hear about players packing their bags and leaving their team during the middle of the season.
But for Patrik Berglund, the money and lost opportunity he sacrificed was worth it in his eyes, as his frustrations boiled and his passion for the game of hockey needed to be rediscovered back home in his native country of Sweden.
Berglund essentially quit on the the Buffalo Sabres after he was suspended following a no-show for a game in Washington back on December 15, 2018.
In the second season of a five-year extension, the 30-year-old left over $11.5 million on the table after being traded to the Sabres last summer in the deal that brought Ryan O'Reilly to the Blues.
"I just knew I had to go home to find myself again," Berglund, who spent 10 years in St. Louis after being selected 25th overall in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, told Swedish publication Hockeypuls.se at the start of 2019.
"My contract and all the money I gave up means nothing," Berglund said. "I can give up that amount at any time to feel good inside."
While speculation grew that Berglund was unhappy in Buffalo, Berglund noted that it was the move out of St. Louis that made triggered his emotions, and not his new city
Speaking for the first time in North America, Berglund caught up with Blues beat reporter Andy Strickland on his "Hockey Sense" podcast on 590 The Fan in St. Louis as to why he came to the unconventional decision.
Whether it's in Sweden or North America, Berglund plans on returning to hockey after temporarily stepping away from the game.
